


Up All Night

by GlowingMechanicalHeart



Category: Sherlock (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Babysitting, Family Fluff, Gen, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-23
Updated: 2021-01-23
Packaged: 2021-03-15 07:35:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,842
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28934880
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GlowingMechanicalHeart/pseuds/GlowingMechanicalHeart
Summary: But it’s very obvious – to the point some of the DCIs have notice – that both John and Mary are in need of a day off.
Relationships: Sherlock Holmes & Rosamund Mary "Rosie" Watson
Kudos: 5





	Up All Night

**Author's Note:**

  * For [afteriwake](https://archiveofourown.org/users/afteriwake/gifts).



> Happy birthday to my big sister **afteriwake** , hope your day is a nice one!

This is how it starts: With John nearly falling asleep during a blog post.

Sherlock is not the only consulting detective for nothing. It has not escaped his notice that John and Mary are tired. Well, tired is an understatement. They’re bloody well exhausted. Mary has deep shadows under her eyes and John seems to be in a shorter temper than his usual.

When he asks, Mary just gives him a tired smiled, “Rosie is teething, so she’s in pain and she’s making her suffering known. And thus, no rest for us. She wants to be in our arms, if we leave her in her crib she will cry louder still.”

He nods, and just keeps watching as his friends struggle with a crying baby. Truth be told, he never would’ve guessed that babies were that hard. But it’s very obvious – to the point some of the DCIs have notice – that both John and Mary are in need of a day off.

He weights his options, googles and then spends a whole day thinking it through. And as luck would have it, Mrs. Hudson has them all for dinner. It is then, when he makes up his mind.

“Mary, why don’t you leave Rosie with me for tonight and tomorrow?”

Everyone stops to stare at him. John has a weary look on his face, Molly is looking at him like he grew a second head, Mrs. Hudson looks completely poleaxed and Mary, well, Mary looks relieved. “Sherlock…” John starts.

“That would be divine,” It’s Mary who finishes. She’s tired, but happy. “If you don’t mind, that would be lovely, a full night’s rest would do us good.”

Molly and Mrs. Hudson are still gaping. He could be offended, but he knows that he has not been the best at people for the longest time, so he can easily excuse them. “I do not mind.” Is all he opts to say, after all, he could hardly be saying ‘You’re a day away from snapping’, could he? No, that would only get him on everyone’s bad side.

“Sherlock a baby is not something you can just experiment with,” Bless Molly for cutting to the chase. “She needs care and attention.”

He turns to look at Molly, “I am aware, but my offer still stands, I can take care of her for night and part of the day, all will be well.”

Molly simply shakes her head, “Famous last words.”

Mrs. Hudson, who has finally come back from her shock arches a brow, “I can’t wait to hear you.”

He opts to speak to Mary, “I mean it, I can have her for tonight and part of tomorrow. You both could use a night’s rest. Yes, anything I feel is serious, I’ll call you. But the offer still stands.”

John still looks weary, but there’s a spark of something in his eyes. And he knows that both of them would welcome a night of rest. Mary looks quite happy, “Sherlock, we’d owe you on this.”

He shakes his head, “She’s my Goddaughter, I can help even if it’s only for one night.”

“A very difficult night,” Mary warns. “But we’d be quite thankful.”

“It’s settled then, you leave her with me and I’ll take care of her.”

And after that, the dinner carries on. Molly still tosses some looks from the corner of her eyes, John still looks like he wants to object, but he’s too tired to do so properly and Mary looks quite calm and happy at the prospect of a full night of sleep. Mrs. Hudson alternates between looking quite amused and worried.

He’ll show them. He can handle Rosie, it’s just a night.

  
No sooner as he is alone with Rosie, she begins weeping. He lifts her from her chair, and cradles her in his arms, rocking her gently. And it works for a bit, her cries are not as loud, but she’s still sniffing and he takes her pacifier and gives it to her. It works, she still has tears on her eyes, but it seems that it has done the trick. 

“That’s a sweet girl,” He says and no sooner that he speaks, Rosie opens her mouth and gives an unholy screech. Her pacifier falls to the side and he struggles to have her take it back, he places it on her mouth, but she’s still crying. “Spoke too soon.”

Then, he gives up, takes the pacifier and sets it aside, takes her little teddy that’s small enough for her to have on her arms, he gives it to her and Rosie immediately begins chewing on it, still sniffing. He changes her to rest against his shoulder and begins to tell a story based on a case of his. She’s small enough that she won’t remember, but he still skips the ugly parts.

It goes well for an hour, and then he settles her back onto the small nest he’s made on the bed, and the moment Rosie touches the mattress, she begins screaming her head off, throwing away her plush. He stares for a moment, then shakes himself, he’s not going to admit defeat now, it’s only been one hour.

“Rosie,” He attempts a stern tone. “That is not a lady-like behaviour, now, what do you want?”

But Rosie is screaming her little head out, he picks the fallen plush and gives her her pacifier again, she chews on it, her cries lower for a bit, but she’s still weeping around it.

He rests a hand on her stomach, “I know,” he tells her. “You’re in pain, and there’s nothing I can’t do. But it’ll pass.” And he opts to pick her up again, he is not so cold that he can’t hold her, she’s his goddaughter, he can handle her. 

This time he rests her head against his shoulder and she lowers her cries, he rubs her back and makes soothing noises. And as luck would have it, she quietens and to his delight, falls asleep.

He won’t be getting much sleep, that much he knows, so he decides to see which cases he can take. People are always asking for help, so, he might as well sort them and order them in tiers. He fetches the laptop and he settles himself next to Rosie and begins working.

Time flies and he’s already decided which cases he should do. There aren’t that many that are interesting, but Rosie is still asleep and he keeping going, writing down their cases – John had suggested making a record of them from his point of view.

He’s in the middle of it, when Rosie awakens screaming her head off. He quickly sets the laptop aside and takes her in his arms. Does his best to sooth her, but nothing works and remember that Mary would sometimes give her a bottle, so he walks downstairs, Rosie in his arms and somehow manages to do a bottle without spilling anything nor putting Rosie down.

Rosie’s appreciative of the bottle and she drinks half of it before pushing it aside, she’s wide awake and there is no way she’ll fall asleep. And he simply begins rambling stories that he remembers at her, and that’s how they spend at least an hour. In the end, Rosie falls asleep crying and he remains with her on his arms a little while longer.

He makes it back to his room, sets Rosie carefully down and then he quickly changes to his pajamas and quietly lays next to her. 

He manages several hours of sleep before Rosie wakes up screaming.

He doesn’t pick Rosie up, instead he begins to hum a song and lays a hand on her tummy, gently rubbing it as he does his best to stop her crying. It’s sad and even if he’s nearly half asleep, he doesn’t like hearing Rosie scream her little lungs out, he doesn’t like it that she’s suffering and there’s nothing much that he could do. And then, it happens, he smells it. And he knows.

“Oh heavens.”

He rushes for the bag that Mary left and stares at Rosie for a second once he’s back. He immediately starts changing her, singing all the while but doing his best not to gag as he changes her diaper. It smells horrible and his singing suffers for it. “Rosie, that is foul.” He manages to get out once the diaper has been removed and set aside, he cleans her quickly, carefully not to miss anything and then puts on a clean diaper and dress her back.

He keeps singing and once he is more awake, he grabs Rosie and lays her on his chest and rubs her back whispering words of comfort, he looks around, trying to find where he put the pacifier, he spots it next to the lamp and he reaches for it, Rosie takes it and her cries lessen.

It is only when Rosie’s back asleep that he settles her in the bed, stands and looks through the bag that Mary left and looks for all the chewable toys and grabs several of them, places them on his nightstand and does his best to sleep again.

And that is how it goes for the whole night, Rosie waking at several times and he, doing his absolute best to console her and making sure she sleep more. To the point that he even played several pieces on the violin. He still has to change her diaper another two times more throughout the night, and those are the worst parts of his babysitting experience.

They ended falling asleep as the sun was coming up. It’s the longest lap of sleep they both get. And when he wakes again, before Rosie, he’s still a bit off, he’s tired and he’s not quite sure how Mary and John have been surviving, can only hope that Rosie stops hurting soon, because with the screaming her lungs out and diapers is enough to drive anyone crazy.

But he manages, and when John and Mary come to pick Rosie up, they give him an extremely thankful look and Mary even hugs him. “Thank you, I know that you’re tired, so we’ll get our daughter and we’ll leave you to sleep.” She rushes towards the chair where Rosie is currently chewing on her toy. Grabs her and kisses her head.

He manages to smile, “It’s fine, I was glad to be of help. Even for one night.”

“How was the diaper duty?” John can’t quite help himself.

It is only then, that he tosses a withering look at John, “That,” he speaks slowly. “Was the worst part.”

John, who is grabbing Rosie’s bag can’t help but to laugh. “Yeah, we should’ve warned you about that, sorry.”

“Well, at least you two slept. I survived.”

It is then, that Mary laughs and he, blaming his lack of sleep, joins her. Yes, it was difficult. Yes, the diapers were terrible, but Rosie is worth it. And he’d do it again, but perhaps one day when he’s less tired.


End file.
